The People Power Party on the 1st targeted Lee Jae-myung's administration's real estate policy and announced real estate pledges including a "half-price jeonse" as its No. 1 pledge for the June 3 local elections.
Jang Dong-hyeok, the party leader, met reporters after finishing a community meeting at Mapo Xi The Centridge in Seoul on the morning of the same day and said, "If the public is to live with peace of mind and young people are to dream of owning a home, Lee Jae-myung's administration's real estate policy must be changed from the ground up," announcing the push for the pledges.
Jang said, "What guarantees stable lives for the people now and serves as the most basic foundation, the place where people's lives and happiness are contained, is the home," adding, "But this administration is taking this precious home away from the people. It is dropping a tax bomb on people who own homes and a jeonse and monthly rent hike bomb on working-class people without homes."
He went on, "We have the bitter memory that every time the Democratic Party of Korea came to power, home prices skyrocketed," adding, "In particular, Moon Jae-in's administration's real estate policy fiasco plunged the entire public into pain."
Specifically, the real estate pledges include: ▲ promoting half-price jeonse in Seoul and the greater Seoul area ▲ promoting childbirth-linked housing loan programs ▲ expanding monthly rent tax credits ▲ expanding monthly rent support for young people ▲ pursuing revision of the Stamp Tax Act to exempt stamp tax on jeonse loan agreements.
Jang said, "We will first promote the 'half-price jeonse,' which supplies long-term jeonse housing at 50% of nearby market prices, in Seoul, and quickly expand it across the greater Seoul area."
He added, "The half-price jeonse pushed by the People Power Party can be supplied without central government administrative procedures or legal revisions, by going through deliberation by local governments' public housing rent adjustment committees," and said, "If you choose the People Power Party in the local elections, we will move first on the half-price jeonse."
On the childbirth-linked housing loan, he said, "We will support ultra-low interest housing loans at within 1% annually for newly married couples," and added, "We will provide exceptional benefits by reducing interest and principal depending on the number of children born."
If one child is born, interest will be fully waived. If two children are born, one-third of the principal will be waived; if three are born, two-thirds of the principal will be waived; and if four to five are born, the full principal will be covered by the national and local governments.
He also said monthly rent tax credits and monthly rent support for young people will be expanded. The income threshold for applying the tax credit will be raised from a total salary of up to 80 million won to up to 90 million won, and the annual credit cap will be increased from the current 10 million won to 20 million won. The tax credit rate will be raised to a maximum of 22%, and those with a total salary of 65 million won or less will also be eligible for tax refunds. A plan to include maintenance fees as eligible for tax credits will also be pursued.
Jang said, "We will increase the monthly rent support amount for young people from the current 200,000 won to 300,000 won," adding, "We will change the income criterion from 60% of the median income to 100% and raise the total asset ceiling to 150 million won to help more young people build assets."
He went on, "Working-class people without homes pay stamp tax every time they take out a loan for a jeonse deposit. The stamp tax paid by tenants has exceeded 140 billion won over the past five years," adding, "We will push to revise the Stamp Tax Act to exempt stamp tax."
Song Eon-seog, the floor leader who took part in the meeting that day, said, "We keep stressing this, but we need to increase housing supply in Seoul. Real estate problems are not solved by suppressing only demand," adding, "Even if the government tries to expand homes through redevelopment and reconstruction, it cannot do so because regulations have nailed everything down."
Lawmaker Cho Jung-hoon, whose constituency is Seoul Mapo A, said, "Lee Jae-myung's administration is causing an extreme drought in the real estate market," adding, "In our Mapo area, more than 10 sites are undergoing redevelopment and reconstruction, but many fear that if things go wrong in the upcoming local elections, reconstruction and redevelopment could come to an all-stop."